


A Provincial Life

by AquaEclipse



Series: APH: A Provincial Life [2]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Accents, Chinese Character, Chinese Food, Chinese Language, Chinese Mythology & Folklore, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Culture, Don't Judge Me, Don't Like Don't Read, Gen, Geography, Historical Hetalia, Historical References, Maps, Original Character(s), Slice of Life, World Meeting (Hetalia)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2020-01-24
Packaged: 2020-11-08 20:09:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20841308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AquaEclipse/pseuds/AquaEclipse
Summary: What happens when you put over 30 teenage siblings/cousins under one roof? Chaos ensues. Ft. China's Provinces, Municipalities, Autonomous Regions and Special Administrative RegionsTumblr: aph-a-provincial-life (ask blog)





	1. The Map That Leads to You

**Author's Note:**

> Further trigger warnings will be disclosed by the chapter.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A brief introduction to some of China's Provinces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is inspired by _The Mapmakers' Colors_ by ProcrastinatingPalindrome of FFN.  
For anyone wondering, I deliberately timed this to be posted on National Day, 1 October. Just because I am pro-protest doesn't mean that I don't give a damn about the Mainland. (And thus, this is a birthday present to China. I'm very proud that they made it this far.)

Guangdong was the first to pick up a brush. The dark, muted green paint was slathered over her southern (southeastern?) spot, yet carelessly penetrated the borders of her neighbours.

Shooting her a bristling glance, Hunan carefully traced the mountains and river separating him from his fellow Provinces in a fiery crimson, then proceeded to fling a dollop of paint in the direction of the capitalists of the south and east.

Jiangxi didn't quite mind his ex-roommate's antics. He merely styled the green into the leaves of a mandarin orange, and began to draw intricate dark-blue patterns in the area marked as the sea, beyond his borders.

Beijing was no ordinary, tasteless commoner. He meticulously mixed his tones and ensnared his small portion of northern land in a deep red, bright enough to display his allegiance, yet dark enough to be a colour of professionalism.

_It's also the colour of blood, the blood spilled to keep your government, your Bosses in power_, a voice whispered at the back of his mind, and suddenly _he was in his streets, gunshots ringing in his ears_ \- he shoved the memory back to his subconscious. Such thought and memories were forbidden, _traitorous_, and northerners like himself are supposed to be _loyal_.

Tianjin looked over at his brother, concerned, quirking an eyebrow. "_I'm okay_," his brother reassured him, but he wasn't so sure. After all, running a country while _S'ifu_ is off taking care of international relations or playing with Sichuan's pandas is no easy task. He ran his brush over where their borders met, and a trail of greyish blue, like the _tian_ in his name (though it looked like the sunny skies above his head before industrialization, as the lighting shifted), followed.

Hebei wouldn't have been there if it weren't for his Municipality brothers. He had never had much to say about matters, but it would be nice if the other Provinces had paid more attention to him, or didn't call him a traitor to their Han blood at first contact, right? His southern sister glanced at him, waiting for him coolly to paint in the blank space above her yellowish brown (like the soil and the river both of them had been named for). He chose a rusty red, much like his tarnished reputation.

When he looked up once again, mahogany eyes (just like those of a man who had bound the two together by the strange way Nation genetics worked) were staring into his own iron-grey. Violet was what laid to his northeast, like her Flying Leopards and the eyes of a certain foreigner who had left his lasting influence on his neighbour.

The northeastern-most Province had considered an icy silvery-white, like his aggressive winters and the snow and ice he had loved so dearly. But in the end, it was a dusky purple that coloured half of the Great Chicken's head, in tribute to the neighbour who brought him tourism and trade, and the rust from a Golden Age past.

Gold was the colour of wealth and thus was naturally fought over and coveted. Eventually, the heated debate fell into the hands of the Capitalists of the Nation. Hong Kong let Shanghai take home the gold for once, for after all, gold was soft and malleable, and silver was the night, technology, and the sleek strength (titanium, for instance) that the non-silvery metal beside copper (oh so soft and malleable too) could never possess. As the southern archipelago was dotted with metallic spots, the City of a Million Dollars ensured that the border between him and his _darling ga tse_ was crisp and clear.

Sichuan had much space to express herself, but she was undeniably drawn to the green of bamboo plants, left aside in a corner, and not the red which much of the nation appeared to be vying for. She did, though, leave the line that cut her little Municipality sister from her clear-cut and well-defined, and wasn't at all surprised that Chongqing had opted for a vermillion shade like molten potassium iodide, shining like their tempers and (in)famously spicy palates.

Hainan had it easy. An oceanic blue for an island south of the sea, eternally poetic and relaxing, but also incredibly deadly for the poor souls lost to the endless, briny horizon.

The isles of Taiwan across the strait from Fujian (a rich tea-brown) were left blank, just as the seat at the meeting table labeled "台灣" remained perpetually empty during every meeting. The main components of the Great Chicken's wing were too left untouched, for Tibet was far too west to be contacted, and Xinjiang… well, few dare to get too close to the Uyghur 'terrorist' territory, or so their people and Bosses claim that he is.

Guizhou was, too, left untouched by paint - not because he wasn't there for the meeting, but due to the general collective fear that drunken painting was not exactly the best idea at the moment.

As the Chinese Subdivisions finally took their leave at the end of the meeting, for the inevitable Intranational Cook-Off (with Sichuan trying to play peacemaker between Mittchigan and Ohio, Fujian attempting to cut away at the bonds tying him to the ingredients cart, and Shanxi and Shaanxi getting into yet another fight), another sixty or so figures slipped into the room to complete the map with their colours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, China's Provinces are canon. They were just conveniently cut out of the anime adaptation, so of course, no one knows they exist.  
Date of Writing: 24/8, 30/9 (2019)  
Date of Editing and Typing: 1/10/2019  
Date of Publication: 1/10/2019


	2. Do You Wanna Build a Snowman? (HL)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> China being forgetful warrants a visit from an icy Province with a warm heart. The Nations are confounded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for going on hiatus for so long when this chapter has been sitting around my notebooks for so long, but you know, real life got to me - test week, two weeks in exile from home, far too much schoolwork… and even now, my one-and-a-half-week Christmas holiday is immediately followed by a two-and-a-half-week Mid-Terms session.  
After that is my Chinese New Year hols - about 2 weeks off, but my next chapter still hasn't been written yet, and I plan to release that on the first day of the New Year… so I'll be really busy.
> 
> So… TLDR: real life got to me, but I'll hopefully be back in a month. This is my early Christmas present for y'all.  
Please note that all conversations are to take place in their native languages or Nation-Speak by default. I also try to imitate the accents, especially in Mandarin, but… there are a lot, and some are especially difficult to understand, even to native speakers (I'm not even one, to boot).  
Just… enjoy the chapter, okay?

"_Zăo a_, Hei."

Light violet eyes blinked as Beijing stepped over his threshold. The Municipality had shown up at his door unannounced on the morning he had planned to check on the preparations for the International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival in his heart. How rude. He forced a soft smile on his face and responded, "_Zăo a_, Jing. What are you doing up here in Dongbei?"

"Shifu's meeting is in Hailanpao, and he, again, has forgotten to bring his notes and his jacket." Oh, Hailanpao? That's the city across the river from Heihe, _da_?

"It's okay, I'll take them to him," he smiled evenly, bearing an uncanny resemblance to a certain Northern Nation. "I'll be there within the hour."

* * *

The meeting was held in the Russian Far East for a reason: obviously, Russia's Boss wanted the Personification out of his hair for another week and this sent him _across the whole damn country_ to host the monthly World Conference.

The door of the downtown Meeting Room slammed open, and the screaming began: Romano darted behind Spain, exclaiming, "There's two of them! Save me, Tomato B*stard!"; his northern counterpart ducked under the table and started waving his white flag; two of the Baltics fell in unconsciousness and/or catatonia, as did several other Nations; and even calm, collected Japan appeared to be extremely disturbed by the figure standing in the doorway, as said figure was essentially, in appearance, a not-so-miniature version of the Russian Federation.

He was bundled up in a black down coat and trousers obviously made for living in the cold climate of Dongbei. A pair of knee-high boots adorned his feet and a bright red scarf with a white flower-snowflake emblem was wrapped around his neck. Not-so-oddly enough, he was also wearing a leifeng hat, obviously for warmth as well. There was an Amur tiger cub in his arms, of whose presence some of the Nations silently questioned, but never voiced due to fear that this psuedo-Russia inherited the original's bossy, temperamental nature.

"S'ifu, you forgot your notes and jacket."

That was the first thing out of the young man's mouth as he entered the room. He pulled out a stack of paper and a deep red overcoat from who-knows-where and… let go of the tiger, which crawled into Russia's arms (for some reason). A few of the Nations breathed a sigh of relief as the newcomer didn't appear bats**t crazy like their Russia, but most remained wary.

"Uh, Russia, dude?" A voice, at last, rang out from the Nations' stupor. "Is that you from an alternate universe or your evil clone or something?" Russia responded with a Look regarding the comment. _Evil clone? Really?_

"Ah, _xièxie_, _Téyǒng_," China replied as though nothing had happened, and the young man smiled at that - a smile that made him seem like a little kid that just gained their _senpai_'s approval, "though you interrupted our World Conference…" China eventually trailed off.

"I see." The newcomer's smile shifted slightly as he turned to the rest of the World. "_Dà jiā hăo_, my name is _Hēilóngjiāng_ Province, but you may call me Artyom. Come to our Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival, _da_?"

* * *

"So your Provinces exist too, China?" asked yet another Nation - well, ex-Nation, this time - who was also apparently as dense as osmium. China honestly felt like bashing another brainless skull in with his trusty wok. Hadn't the _báichī_ in front of him _seen_ _Téyǒng_?

Plus, he had never bothered to keep his Provinces hidden away, and some of the Western Nations had known of their existence since the 16th century, read: Portugal came knocking and Guangdong waged war for his attempt to claim little, newborn Macau (no one had any idea how another of Nanyue's spawn came to be when she had been dead for over a millennium, but that's Nation logic for you).

"Yes, _Pǔlùs'ì Xiāns'eng_, of course we exist. I'm right here."

The Nations had essentially surrounded China and his northeasternmost Province, asking questions left and right, as if they didn't have Personified Subdivisions of their own. (Of course, nothing would get done that Conference, as per the norm.)

However, it was then when they started noticing Heilongjiang's physical similarities with China: a couple of strange _ahoge_s, one of them a small, simple curl (everyone knew that China's was hidden in his ponytail); the same ebony hair tone; softer (distinctly _East Asian_, though still vaguely foreign - and not in a Russian way - to Chinese eyes) facial features; a slightly less distinctive nose than Russia… All of a sudden, the boy looked more like a _RoChu love child_ than a Russia clone gone wrong.

Heilongjiang bit into his Madi'er Binggun, savouring the sweet, milky taste. The Southerners thought that he was crazy, like Guangdong (the dear epitome Southerner that she is) - "_Who the hell would," she had said, "in a wintry land, eat _suet tiu_?!"_ \- but hey, at least his _bīnggùn_ wouldn't melt in the temperatures he was used to!

"How did you get here so fast? You said you only had an hour's notice!" Obviously someone with little knowledge of geography and couldn't even be bothered to use Google Maps while trying to find this place.

(Then again, it's a valid question…)

Fifty seconds later, Google Maps had been opened up to a place where two cities along the northeastern Russo-Chinese border, separated by the Amur River, were shown on the screen (projected by the projector, of course). A bandy stick (_where did that come from?_) was pointed at the town of Blagoveshchensk on the Russian river-bank. "_This_ is Hailanpao, where we are now. Across the river," he paused to point at the city on the other side, "is Heihe, in my house. The river has frozen over. I skated."

The Nations blinked.

"Also, Senya lets me visit whenever I want to." (On the other side of the Oblast, a gold-eyed girl in a white-lined red sweater sneezed, sending a fellow Nation speaking of her.)

"Okay, so you skated here… can you show us how?"

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, the group had ventured out to the Amur River, or the Heilong Jiang (Black-Dragon River), of which Heilongjiang (Province) had been named after. Most of the Nations were either skating along, tripping over their own feet, or wondering along the same line of Guangdong about _why the hell is this kid eating a popsicle at below 0°C, is this kid crazy?_

Alternately, no one was questioning how Heilongjiang had got his hands on a pair of ice-skates - of the right size, no less! - for basically everyone… except Japan, who was provided with a single skate so big that it seemed to be tailor-made for a one-legged giant instead; nor were they questioning why half the manhole covers were missing. ("Yu, this is getting out of hand! Can you at least not go around doing this while beyond our borders?" Heilongjiang had commented before moving on.)

It was when Ecuador was passing Heilongjiang did something happen. The little tiger cub ran out from who-knows-where and startled, the South American Nation tugged on the Province's scarf in an attempt to stay balanced. He failed, and with a _"S'én me niăo?!"_ Ecuador tumbled onto the frozen surface of the river; while somehow, Heilongjiang's skates began drilling a hole in the ice, and with a loud _SPLASH_, the Province _fell through_.

Everyone's heads turned to the hole in the river. China's face flashed to an anxious expression, before he began to back away into his borders - he did _not_ want to see this. In fact, he did not want to be _anywhere_ near the scene of the crime. Scheduling the next meeting that he would host in Hainan suddenly seemed to be a very appealing idea.

A head emerged from the frozen river like a water demon, hair plastered to his forehead, eyes darkening to a menacing Russia-violet, enveloped by a dusky purple aura.

"_Kuhkuhkuhkuhkuhkuhkuhkuhkuhkuh…_"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heilongjiang Stereotypes: (Tend to be grouped with the rest of Dongbei - the Northeast) strong, manly, alcoholic, straightforward, efficient blue-collar workers, cold and Russian (and HLJ has even more reason to be "Russian", because history declared it to be this way), corruption (name pun), Harbin Ice Festival
> 
> The insignia on HLJ's scarf is the symbol on the (former) flag of Harbin.  
HLJ actually isn't this Russian at first, but circumstances and 19th-20th century influence got to him… and now he's more than HLJ Province, but that's a story for another time. (HLJ also has the third-highest Chinese Russian population in the country, though the top two are far higher and rep their own ethnic minorities… HLJ's current Russian population is comparable to that of Beijing, who is 4th highest… I'll get into this later.)  
Madi'er Binggun are a brand of ice lolly based in Harbin, and supposedly a tourist must-try.  
I'm quite sure that people aren't allowed to SKATE across the Amur River (there's usually a boat to take you across), but you know, Nation privileges.  
HLJ, like many Chinese, even to this day, hold quite a grudge against Japan. Why? The Second Sino-Japanese War, of course. But for HLJ being particularly petty here… if I get to a WWII chapter, I'll tell, but here's a hint - 731.  
HLJ doesn't like it when people pull on his scarf… because this happens. Every. Single. Damn. Time.  
As for why China wasn't trying to help when HLJ fell, well… there are no Good Samitarian Laws in the Mainland. You can try to help a car crash victim and the victim can legally sue YOU for causing the crash, and that's just one example of horror stories regarding this scenario. This might be one of the reasons why Hongkongers tend to fall into Bystander Syndrome as well, even if we DO have Good Samitarian Laws across the border.
> 
> Like many countries, China has a pretty bad north-south divide - not Italy-level that warrants two different Personifications, but more like the US north-south divide. People tend to be biased against people from certain regions or states/provinces for various reasons and stereotypes. The vocabulary used in the north and the south also tend to differ, especially between different "dialects".  
I've personally never been to Harbin, but a Mainlander friend of mine has (she's a HKer born in the Mainland and more connected to the northern side of the Sham Chun River than I will ever be), and she's helping me out here… but I still do plenty of research, so we're trying to make this somewhat authentic. Heck, I even studied a map of Blagoveshchensk for this fic! (I've only been to the Mainland four times in my entire life, while she's only left Chinese borders once.)
> 
> Date of Writing: 16 April - 6 May 2019  
Date of Typing/Final Editing: 22 Dec 2019  
I'll hopefully get the next chapter up on the first day of the first lunar month, as a New Year's gift, so I'll see you then! I hope you enjoyed this, and have a very happy Winter Solstice and holiday season!  
P.S. My tumblr inbox for this fic at aph-a-provincial-life is still open! Ask away!


	3. Tell the World I'm Coming Home (GD/CNY)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Guangdong hosts a family reunion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was written for the Hetalia Lunar Year Event, in which I compressed all the prompts into one chapter since I don't have the time or energy to write a full chapter every day. The prompts are Spring Cleaning, New Year's Market, Food, Decorating, Red, New Year's Myths, and Family; all of which are elements mentioned, if not directly in, this chapter just shy of 900 words. (A bit lackluster for a CNY chapter, but I kind of had writer's block for this chapter.)

Guangdong grumbled as they scrubbed at the dirtied windows of their house. They weren't much of a neat freak, nor were they particularly wary of tradition – they were, after all, the coolest, hippest Province! _Take that, "China's Number One Province" Jiangsu!_ – but oh no, Guangxi had to look at them with those cute, watery, turquoise eyes; and then they were roped into a Southern reunion dinner with the rest of the "Deep South", as Ka Lee had put it…

DING DONG!

Guangdong dropped their cloth into the wash-basin and opened the door, just before realizing that they hadn't put up the decorations yet. _Great, there goes my reputation._

From the doorway gleamed those incriminating turquoise eyes that triggered their paranoia in the first place. "Ting-Ting!" Their twin rushed forth to wrap them in an embrace, smushing their chests against each other – hers ample, theirs… not so.

Guangdong looked over their twin's shoulder and noted on the eerily grinning figure at the door behind Guangxi, whose eyes, blue like the calm sea he was named for, kept on twinkling merrily. "Not a word about the nickname…"

Their twin was the only one who could refer to them by their human name. Ka Ting. _So very feminine and–_

Hainan wisely kept his mouth shut as he sipped on his coconut milk. He was still wearing a Hawaiian shirt, though thankfully ostentatiously red, to fit with the festive theme. Guangdong had had the sense to put on a red hoodie, while Guangxi was fully decked out in her scarlet Zhuang ethnic costume (minus the turban).

* * *

Guangdong hurried to the kitchen. Time was almost up.

_Saam, yi, yat, sik fo._ A perfect _nin'goh_ – they sometimes wonder why they bother, after all these years. After all, the three of them had adapted to 'Chinese' culture over the two millennia they were alive, but they were brought up, in their earliest days, by their "barbarian" mother, and had been called that while growing up, even under China's household. None of them – especially Guangxi, in all of the South – were proper, _snobby_ Han Chinese – the model citizens who spoke Mandarin and bent to the every whim of the north.

_Eh, I'm being philosophical again, that's _ _S__ā__an-D__ū__ng's job, the stinkin' northerner._

"Stop talking to yourself, you gonna appear cray-zee-er than you already are."

With that, Guangdong's brain was immediately assaulted with the presence of the brother they despised the most.

"_H__è__ung-G__ó__ng…_" they trailed off on an almost threatening note.

"_Gw__ǎ__ng-D__ū__ng_, calm down a bit. Ka Lung, stop mocking our big sister," chastised Macau. _At least we can count on Ka Lun to keep his brother in line…_

They always did wonder what went wrong when raising Hong Kong. Then again, they only did do that by the loosest definition of 'raising', they hadn't even known of his existence prior to the _Treaty of Nanking_, probably because he only occupied an island of their space before the 1860 _Treaty of Peking_. The first hundred-or-so years of Hong Kong's life (which amounted to about a third of his lifespan already) were covered by… someone else.

Guangdong turned to see Macau placing pots of kumquats by the front door – "fresh from the _nin siu si cheung_," he explained later – and Hong Kong putting up hand-written calligraphy _fai chun_ on the walls, thankfully not in places where they didn't look out of place. (They would always thank whatever deity in existence that Hong Kong's sense of style actually existed, unlike China's, since _someone_ from the Sinosphere and prominent on the world stage had to.)

Right as Hong Kong was announcing that the _Nin Sau_ wouldn't be arriving on my doorstep that night, the doorbell rang. Again.

"_Ka tse_!" Another figure came flying into Guangdong's arms, this time a brunette with a gold pan hairclip. "_Man, I'm hella glad to see you!_" she continued in English.

"_Lee~! You, like, never get this excited to see me!_" pouted the girl nigh-identical to the one that had just tackle-glomped Guangdong. The main difference was that she looked far less… Chinese than her twin, with wide blue eyes and dark blonde locks pinned back with a film reel hairclip, on the other side of her face.

"_You're dusty, Mari,_" countered the former twin, picking up a basket of oranges from her sister's arms, "_now help lay out the chopsticks._"

Another several minutes had passed before the meal could finally be laid out on the dining table – a whole steamed fish, a whole crispy fried chicken, and six other dishes for the family to enjoy. Thankfully, they did prepare some vegan food – to Guangdong's annoyance – for SoCal, and the fact that Fujian wasn't killed and made into any of the dishes greatly reassured the more Westernized side of the family.

* * *

The night was a peaceful one for them. Yet farther out at sea, a fisherwoman would pull up back at her current home in Tai O, after moving years ago from Aberdeen. Though she remained mostly forgotten by the rest of Nanyue's brood, she didn't mind – she had lived like this for the better part of two thousand years, and she knew her siblings would be okay, in the end, even without her.

Just as she entered her home on stilts, her phone buzzed. A message had been received.

_Hong Kong: Happy New Year _ah_, Tanka_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRANSLATIONS (rough Romanization used for Canto):  
Saam, yi, yat - three, two, one  
Sik fo - turn off the fire  
Nin'goh - 'nian'gao' in Mandarin, a traditional Chinese New Year dessert/foodstuff, puns on  
Sāan-Dūng - Shandong  
Hèung-Góng - Hong Kong  
Gwǎng-Dūng - Guangdong  
Treaty of Nanking - 1842 treaty between the British Empire and Qing China (long story), one of the conditions is to cede Hong Kong (Island) to the British Empire  
Treaty of Peking - (year labelled because there was more than one) a follow-up to the Treaty of Nanking that ceded the Kowloon Peninsula and Stonecutter's Island (now no longer an island) to British Hong Kong  
Nin siu si cheung - Lunar New Year Fair (I'm not sure where the fairs are in Macau or Guangdong, but we have plenty in HK, so I have faith that they have them as well)  
Fai chun - traditional paper decoration with black/gold blessings written on them, used in the 'nin sau' myth to scare off the beast (modern ones are mass-produced and printed and can even have cartoon characters in 3-D pop-up form, but traditional ones are hand-written with calligraphy)  
Nin sau - 'nianshou' in Mandarin, a (mythical) beast who comes every year to eat people and can be scared off by the colour red and loud noises (i.e. the sound of firecrackers)  
Ka tse - (colloquial) big/older/elder sister  
Dusty - (NorCal slang) undesirable
> 
> Guangdong Stereotypes: Cantonese, tech hub, great cuisine but will eat anything and everything (including Fujianese, which is based on an Internet joke)  
Jiangsu really was given the title of "China's Number One Province" at one point.  
Since Northern China is the centre and origin of contemporary Chinese culture, Southern Chinese regions (read: far from the Imperial capital), including Guangdong get all the disgraced officials. Also, unlike most regional tongues, Cantonese is still alive and kicking to this day, regardless of Hong Kong and Macau's influence. Heck, they even protested against more Mandarin influence in media... in the Mainland! That was in 2010, and even if teens these days tend to use more Mandarin... Cantonese is a resilient language, and its speakers are prideful - we won't let it die out anytime soon.  
Guangdong goes by she/they pronouns in this 'verse.  
The Huanan (South China) region - or as I prefer to term it, the Chinese Deep South - comprises of Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan (which used to be part of Guangdong until the 1980s), Hong Kong and Macau. NorCal is home to a significant portion of the Chinese diaspora (especially Cantonese diaspora), and for historical reasons (long story, may tell later), so she's counted as family as well. SoCal... is the odd one out in the family reunion, but... y'know, she's technically family too, so she's also here on that technicality.  
Hong Kong Cantonese differs from Guangzhou Cantonese by having more 'lazy sounds' and code-mixing with English, and tends to sound more 'exaggerated'. Macau Cantonese is similar to HK Canto, but has local slang as well and occasional Portuguese/Macanese elements.  
For the record, the Southern and Northern Chinese have different traditions when celebrating Chinese New Year, and since I live in the South, this is partially based on personal experience and real life.  
Tanka is known by many names (such as the "boat people"), but in this 'verse, is the oldest of the Nanyue siblings and takes the most after their mother. She was also the one who brought up Hong Kong - Macau was more brought up by Portugal than by anyone else.
> 
> Of all the (Mainland) Provinces, I have the strongest connection with Guangdong. I've only visited the place twice in my life (once to Shenzhen, the other time to Guangzhou, to my family home), which is more than Beijing and Shanghai (both, once only, so far). The reason behind this is simple - my family originated from there, and as a Hongkonger, I have always been close with Cantonese culture. So... yeah, that's my special relationship with Guangdong, and I am proud to call myself Cantonese, behind the title of "Hongkonger".  
For any more questions, please drop something in the ask box of the official Tumblr of this series at @aph-a-provincial-life, and I will answer them for you.  
Date of Writing: 24/1/2020  
Date of Typing/Final Editing: 24/1/2020  
Date of Publication: 25/1/2020 (i.e. First day of Chinese New Year)

**Author's Note:**

> I also have a Tumblr for this fic, aph-a-provincial-life. Please stop by and drop a question or two for the Provinces! They'd be ecstatic to know that non-Chinese want to know more about them!


End file.
